But our busy routine life in general, where we are always running out of time, has no place for these luxuries. That’s where planning comes in. Planning to use travelling as the great escape from our professional lives to avail what become rather luxuries.

However, where I call it the “great escape from our professional lives”, travelling does make a profound impact in your career.

Here’s how the benefits of travelling can translate into a better career.

You will welcome new perspectives

During travels, you listen to and see new perspectives while meeting people and understanding their culture. Unlike at work, where we build a defensive wall around our viewpoint and aren’t willing to listen to others. The mahaul is not threatening, there’s little to no ego at stake, and you aren’t bothered by what people on this new piece of land will think of what you say because you won’t be there forever.

All of this helps one become a team player—one of the most valuable qualities that employers look for. When the manager criticizes your work, you’ll learn to listen to it objectively and use it to grow faster. Travelling will broaden your horizons too, as it has a way of scaling your thoughts and ideas.

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You will become much more adaptive

They say, “man proposes and God disposes”. This is particularly true when you’re travelling because you cannot cater to every possible scenario while planning. You can run out of money, get sick, or meet an accident like I did. It happened while I was travelling to Gilgit-Baltistan, when my vehicle and a motorbike crashed into each other. The accident caused serious damage to both vehicles, along with minor mental and physical injuries. But most importantly, and a lesson in planning trips where chances of such incidents are higher.

Work can be just as unpredictable. You always plan for various scenarios, but there are times you’ll face unforeseen challenges that will require quick thinking and adaptive decision making.

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You will become a natural networker

To build your network, you have to talk to and connect with people. There is no way to practice this skill more effectively than while travelling. You have no choice but to talk to people. This is especially effective if, like me, you travel with tour operators where a bunch of strangers elect to travel together. My recent trip to Chitral was a fascinating experience in this regard. When travelling alone, I would just be using my phone. But this time, I went with ten other people, and I managed to get friendly with them.